Did you know that the idea to choose new Seven
Wonders of the World appeared in 1999?
It was Bernard Weber, a filmmaker with
Swiss origins, who set up this project. Next, the list of the monuments was
created by Swiss company, called New Open
World Corporation. People could vote for the best monument from that list
from 1st January 2006 to 6th July 2007. According to the researchers there was
90,000,000 million votes casted form a whole world! And finally form 7th July
we have new Seven Wonders of the World which I want you present today.
At first, I have to mention that there is only one of the Old Seven Wonders of the World that survived until today. It is The Great Pyramid of Giza, which obtained an honorary status during presentation of a new list. It is
the oldest and the largest one of the three pyramids in the Giza pyramid complex
in Egypt and it is believed that it was built as tomb for Cheops. This gigantic
monument was constructed over a 20-year period.
The first one is The Great Wall of China. It stretches
form Dandong in the east to Lop Lake in the west. Several walls were built in 7th century to protect the Chinese states against the invasions. Each of the walls
has its own name.
Then we have Petra in Jordan. It is a
historical city which is famous of its rock-cut architecture and water conduit
system which were very important in the barren deserts. It is also called a “Lost
city of stones”. His name derives form the name of its royal founder Rekeme that means Petra in Greek.
The third position comes to The Colosseum in
Italy. Its original Latin name was Amphitheatrum Flavium. Its area has 24,000
square metres and it could accommodate 87,000 people! There were many different
events which were organised in The Colosseum. We can enumerate shows called Munera that were given by private
individuals to demonstrate of power and family prestige. Venatio – shows with the wild beast, navalia proelia – show in which the sea battles were simulated and sylvae shows, which aim was to recreate
natural scenes.
The next monument is ChiChen Itza in Mexico. It
was a large pre-Columbian city built by the Maya people. It name means “At the
mouth of the well of the Itza.
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The fifth position is for Machu Picchu in Peru.
It is a 15th century Inca citadel situated on a mountain. It was
built in 1450.
Then we
have also Taj Mahal in India. It was built let to be built by Shah Jahan in 1631, in
the memory of his wife which died giving birth to their 14th child. Taj Mahal is constructed of ivory-white marble
and it is a mausoleum which stretches on 17 hectares that includes a mosque and
a guest house.
And the last one is The Christ the Redeemer in Brazil.
The statue is 30 metres tall and it arms stretch 28 metres wide. It is located
at the peak of the 700 metre Corcovado Mountain in the National Park. This
statue is a symbol of Christianity.
